


Coming Home

by Angelchexmex



Series: Home is Where Your Team Is [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Child Abuse, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Parent Hatake Kakashi, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Starvation, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 12:10:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16555502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelchexmex/pseuds/Angelchexmex
Summary: Kakashi isn't surprised that his little brats had made themselves at home in his apartment while he was gone, he was just a bit curious as to why.





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wecantgiggleitsacrimescene](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wecantgiggleitsacrimescene/gifts).



> This fic is for Wecantgiggleitsacrimescene and honestly I had so much fun writing it. Team Seven bonding and being cute will always be my favourite shit.
> 
> Also, why is it that if I ever have writers block all I have to do is type on my phone instead of my laptop and suddenly everything is so much easier???
> 
> Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think in the comment section!

Kakashi kind of wished that he was actually surprised by the fact the Sakura was lounging on his couch when he came home, one of his non-porn books propped up on her chest as she flicked through it lazily. 

"Welcome home Kakashi-sensai!" She chirped cheerily, not even bothering to look up form her book which was absolutely rude and Kakashi couldn't figure out where she'd learned that from. His little kunoichi used to be so sweet and shy. 

"And what are you doing in my apartment?" Kakashi asked, limping over to sit on the space she wasn't taking up on his couch. She was still as tiny as ever for all that her personality had vastly changed in the few months she'd been on Team 7.

"Why we're house sitting of course," Sakura flipped another page in her book as she spoke, voice fully implying that Kakashi was an absolute idiot for even needing to ask.

"Ah, of course," Kakashi agreed because really what else could he do? He'd been sent on a week long mission because once an ANBU always an ANBU but he hadn't expected that would mean he's somehow given carteblanche for one of his students to infiltrate his house...again.

"Wait we?" Kakashi hopped up from his couch as soon as the words registered because he hadn't seen either Naruto or Sasuke and leaving those two alone for any length of time was a horrible idea.

"Relax Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called from the kitchen, which absolutely did not make Kakashi relax even a little bit. "We're just making dinner! And we haven't burnt anything down yet."

"Hn," Sasuke added as Kakashi rounded the corner and looked in on his two other demonic students. Their evil little expressions did not seem to be lying but honestly it could be hard to tell because Naruto always looked like he'd just done something wrong that he didn't want to admit to and Sasuke always looked like he was planning murder. 

"And why might my cute little students who have their own places to stay be doing making dinner in my apartment," Kakashi questioned, eye smiling at them as he held on desperately to the wall so he didn't collapse on his leg. He was really too tired to deal with his team's shenanigans. Except, his shoulders were less tense than before and the screaming he'd been hearing in his head, the ones that sounded oddly like people he'd killed before, were disappearing under the onslaught of childish voices.

"House sitting," Sasuke stated, and Kakashi was going to kill him for teaching Sakura that tone of voice because that had to be where she learned it from. No one else could perfect that level of 'you idiot'. Later, Kakashi would be horrified to learn that Sasuke had actually learned it from Sakura and not the other way around.

"Which does not usually involve cooking," Kakashi countered, turning his head to look at Naruto instead. Maybe that one would give him a helpful answer.

"It does if you've been living in said house," Naruto replied, and thank goodness one of Kakashi's students hadn't mastered that damn condescending tone. Naruto's was far more like a younger sibling attempting to scold an older one than anything else.

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped from the living room, looking up to glare at Kakashi's back since she couldn't actually see Naruto or Sasuke from her position. Kakashi was, however, pleased to see that Naruto didn't flinch back from Sakura's angry tone and Sakura made no move to get up and hit Naruto. It had taken Kakashi longer than he liked to think about to stop her from physically abusing her teammate, but they were all the better for it.

"Sorry, Sakura," Naruto replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. Which was also nice, because Kakashi had had to work hard on getting Naruto to stop harassing Sakura about dates too and the two of them had finally settled into something of a friendship mixed with sibling rivalry.

"Idiot," Sasuke snorted and yeah alright he was still a bitter work in progress but he was doing better. Partially shown by the fact that he was currently wearing a blue apron over his usual clothes and stirring some kind of soup in the stove. 

All of which nicely distracted Kakashi from the fact that his students were hiding something from him and it involved them sleeping over at his house. Kakashi would later blame his obliviousness on a mixture of post-mission tiredness and the amazing aroma coming from the soup Sasuke had made.

"Right, then are you brats staying for dinner?" Kakashi asked, stepping fully into the kitchen and sitting at his little kitchen table, which he noted had somehow acquired three new chairs.

"No," Sasuke stated, turning away from his stirring to look Kakashi dead in the eyes with a blank expression, "we made enough food for four people because we thought you'd have three other people in your life willing to eat with you. You don't?"

"How sad," Naruto and Sakura added together as the kunoichi entered the kitchen, book thankfully nowhere to be seen because Kakashi would have had to object if Sakura thought she'd be bringing it anywhere near food.

"I'd say something witty, but it would be lost on you three," Kakashi replied, pulling out his own book, porn of course, and opening it to a random page. He didn't want his little kiddies to think he actually cared about what they were doing on a regular basis. 

He did, however, listen intently to his three students. It wasn't odd per se that they'd all ended up at his house, after the first time Naruto had been purposefully barred from his own apartment the little blond bundle of chaos had regularly stopped by and spent the night whenever he'd needed to. Then one night Kakashi had been out and about and found Sasuke wondering around alone far too late and dragged that little bundle of brooding despair back to his place to sleep and occasionally Kakashi would still get knock on his door late at night. Sakura, on the other hand, had just been in his house one day and Kakashi had just rolled with it.

So no, it wasn't odd that any combination of the three of them were in his apartment, what was odd is that all three of them seemed to have moved in at some point. They all seemed perfectly at home in Kakashi's kitchen and he needed to figure out why. House sitting wasn't actually necessary and it certainly wasn't necessary for them to sleep over. Ha, he had remembered that important little tidbit eventually.

So, Kakashi watched as his little charges bundled about the tiny kitchen, which was honestly too small for the four of them, and noted the way Sasuke and Naruto seemed to be particularly careful around Sakura. They made sure to stay out of her way, even if it put them in the direct way of each other, and didn't quibble about anything she told them to do even though their main mode of communication was usually bickering. 

Whatever was going on centered on Sakura then. "How has training been going in my absence?" Kakashi asked for lack of anything else to say. It would at least start the conversation.

"I can run around the whole village twice without stopping," Sakura announced brightly, sipping at her soup daintily. Kakashi ate some of his as well, pleased to note that it was eggplant.

"I've finally mastered walking on water!" Naruto crowed, much less graceful about eating than Sakura or Sasuke or...well anyone really.

"Hn," Sasuke added eating a bit of rice as he seemed to think about what he wanted to say. "I've been working on matching my speed to my Sharingan."

"Sasuke is getting very fast," Sakura agreed, and Kakashi was more than pleased to note that her praise was that of a friend and teammate and not of an obsessed fan.

"I'm still going to beat him in the end though!" Naruto interjected, punching one fist in the air. Sakura turned to him with an amused smile and Kakashi was surprised to notice Sasuke quickly slipping some of his food onto Sakura's plate, specifically a bunch of roasted tomatoes which were Sasuke's favourite.

Something was definitely wrong. 

Letting his students talk amongst themselves, and only interjecting enough to let them know he was listening, Kakashi began to notice a pattern. Either Naruto or Sasuke, usually Naruto, would do something distracting to get Sakura's attention and then the other would slip more food onto her plate. Sakura would then eat for a while and then the pattern would repeat. 

Kakashi had always thought that Sakura was a bit too thin, but now that he really looked at her he noticed that at some point a bit too thin had simply transformed to unhealthily skinny. Was this why they were all here? Naruto and Sasuke wanting to keep an eye on their teammate so she didn't waist away?

Except, Sakura didn't seem to be having a problem eating everything that was in front of her. It didn't look like she was counting the calories or anything. So it had to be something else.

"Although, now that you're back I suppose we'll all return home," Sakura was saying, hand trembling where it held onto her chopsticks almost hard enough to snap them.

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged dark looks. "My apartment is still being fumigated," Naruto replied easily, "so if we can't stay here I'll just have to stay with Sasuke."

"Hn," Sasuke agreed quickly, "and I'll need help keeping the deadlast in line if he stays for long."

"Oi!" Naruto shouted, raising a mocking fist at Sasuke who merely smirked in reply.

"Who said anything about any of you going anywhere?" Kakashi interjected, the final pieces of the puzzle clicking into place. 

Kakashi had heard of civilian families who didn't understand their children once they'd become official ninja. He'd heard the talks about kunoichi starting to starve because their parents forced them on diets or being shamed for gaining muscle in ways that was seen as ugly by civilians. He'd even heard of such anger leading to physical abuse, although it didn't seem that things had gotten to that point for Sakura. Still, Kakashi could only be angry at himself for not noticing. He'd always assumed, falsely obviously, that Sakura had started coming by because she hadn't wanted to be excluded. Now, he realized that she'd been running just like Naruto and Sasuke often were.

"We can't stay here," Sakura interjected, it's far too small for all four of us."

Kakashi hummed softly, leaning back and eye smiling at his students. "I guess we'll just need to get a larger apartment then won't we."

His students looked at him in shock before turning to each other and having some kind of silent conversation that made Kakashi proud. Team Seven had come so far from their start. 

Finally, Sakura, who often seemed to be the unofficial official leader, turned to Kakashi and smiled, "I supposed we will," she replied. And for all that Kakashi knew there's be moments he would regret his decision in the future, he was just as sure that it would always be worth it. Team Seven was his family after all.


End file.
